Posted by Joelle on November 05, 2013

It's that time of year again. In addition to looking forward, as we always do, to the books releasing in the coming months, we're also taking time to reflect upon all of the amazing books that have come out this year. Soon we'll be sharing our 50 Best Books of 2013, but to tide you over until then, here are our 13 favorite cookbooks of the year, as selected by our esteemed cooking columnist, Sybil Pratt. Warning: Some serious stomach rumbling may occur as you proceed down the list!

A collection of 100 eminently doable recipes, inspired by local fishermen and farmers, by famed Charleston institutions past and present (check out the Cheese Spread from the hallowed Henry’s) and by dishes discovered in old cookbooks and memoirs.

From Danny Meyer, CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group, which includes many of New York City’s most admired restaurants, Michael Romano, his partner and culinary director of the group, and food writer Karen Stabiner comes more than 150 easy, affordable recipes, peppered with behind-the-scenes stories.

An inspiring, heartfelt celebration of Italian tradition and Viviani's rags-to-riches (or scraps-to-scrumptious) life, from poor Florentine kid who started cooking with his great-grandmother at the age of 5 to celebrity chef and owner of three successful restaurants in the U.S.—with more than 150 recipes.

Shows you how to cook like a Mexican mama, offering not the cheese-drenched, gluey stuff we norteamericanos so often mistake for Mexican, but the simple, healthy, comforting, sensational food that’s served in homes. ¡Buen provecho!

With 200 recipes, this new paean to vegetables is big, beautiful and so bountiful that it’s not going to encourage moderation. Just looking at the luscious full-color photos is enough to make a committed carnivore morph into an advocate of the mostly veggie approach to everyday eating.

A complete companion to mastering the art of putting up and putting by—making sweet preserves with fruit and savory preserves with vegetables, and using simple techniques for drying, freezing and storing seasonal produce. More than 220 recipes are organized by season and accompanied by stories (preserver extraordinaire West is also a gifted Southern storyteller) and essays.

In 100 recipes using 10 ingredients or fewer, divided into eight chapters, Iyer presents his unique system for learning to cook Indian food. This is your own master class; each chapter is a course on a course with a specific technique that’s explained (or “unfolded”) in a special foldout with full-color, full-fun, step-by-step photos.

A glorious selection of sauces and soups with suggestions for the pasta shapes that go best with them, recipes for making pasta from scratch and, most importantly, advice on approaching pasta as Italians approach this most-loved food that is “synonymous with family, hearth and home.”

Gorgeous, fabulous and filled with recipes that will make even the most jaded cook jump for culinary joy. Ottolenghi and Tamimi’s unique realm of flavor is sunny, colorful, zesty and bold, appreciably Middle Eastern, with Mediterranean and Californian influences and universal appeal. They keep prep unfussy and simple. They want you to have fun with their food and, most of all, they want you to say “wow!”

Goin, a true omnivore and true believer in seasonal and local cooking, is boldly, brilliantly creative, combining ingredients, layering and reinforcing flavors so that the sum of the dish is greater than its parts (some of the “parts” are divine by themselves). This is serious, challenging cooking, not dumbed-down, not simplified.

• Check out our full review, and keep your eye out for the recipe for Grilled Fig Leaf Panna Cotta with Figs and Melon Sorbet, which will be featured as a Recipe of the Week this month.

The pièce de résistance of this year’s crop of grand cookbooks, a big, beautiful package, filled with luscious photos. First and foremost come the best recipes from Daniel, Boulud’s famed New York restaurant, with complex preparations inspired by classic French dishes and given a Boulud twist.

• Check out our full review, and keep your eye out for recipes for Cocoa-Dusted Dark Chocolate Bombe and Beer-Marinated Pork Rack, which will each be featured as a Recipe of the Week this month.

• • • • • • • • • • •

SWEETBy Valerie Gordon

Look for a review of this cookbook—the Top Pick!—in our December issue.

What are your favorite 2013 cookbooks? Have you tried making any of our Recipes of the Week this year?

Posted by Cat on October 24, 2013

With delicious recipes like this one, London restaurateurs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's cookbook Ottolenghi is likely to stir up a "rapturous feeding frenzy" similar to the one inspired by their award-winning, trend-setting cookbook Jerusalem. Ottolenghi is our Top Pick in Cookbooks for October!

To make the sauce, put all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk well. Taste—looking for a vibrant, tart, citrusy flavor—and adjust the seasoning. Chill or leave out for up to an hour.

To prepare the cauliflower, trim off any leaves and use a small knife ?to divide the cauliflower into little florets. Add them to a large pan ?of boiling salted water and simmer for 15 minutes, until very soft. Drain into a colander.

While the cauliflower is cooking, put the flour, chopped parsley, garlic, shallots, eggs, spices, salt, and pepper in a bowl and whisk together well to make a batter. When the mixture is smooth and homogenous, add the warm cauliflower. Mix to break down the cauliflower into ?the batter.

Pour the sunflower oil into a wide pan to a depth of 2?3 inch / 1.5 cm and place over high heat. When it is very hot, carefully spoon in generous portions of the cauliflower mixture, 3 tablespoons per fritter. Take care with the hot oil! Space the fritters apart with a fish slicer, making sure they are not overcrowded. Fry in small batches, controlling the oil temperature so the fritters cook but don’t burn. ?They should take 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Remove from the pan and drain well on a few layers of paper towels. Serve with the sauce on the side.

Posted by Cat on October 03, 2013

Ottolenghi is our Top Pick in Cookbooks for October! Cooking columnist Sybil Pratt promises that these sunny, bold Middle Eastern recipes, packed with Mediterranean and Californian influences, "will make even the most jaded cook jump for culinary joy."

Grease an 8-inch / 20-cm springform cake pan and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper. Place the raisins and water in a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat until all of the water has been absorbed. Leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325°F / 170°C. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.

Put the oil and superfine sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a whisk if you don’t have a mixer). Slit the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and, using a sharp knife, scrape the seeds out into the bowl. Beat the oil, sugar, and vanilla together, then gradually add the eggs. The mix should be smooth and thick at this stage. Mix in the diced apples, raisins, and lemon zest, then lightly fold in the sifted dry ingredients.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl, either by hand or with a mixer, until they have a soft meringue consistency. Fold them into the batter in 2 additions, trying to maintain as much air as possible.

Pour the batter into the lined pan, level it with an icing spatula, and place in the oven. Bake for 1½ hours, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan.

Once the cake is completely cold, you can assemble it. Remove from the pan and use a large serrated knife to cut it in half horizontally. ?You should end up with 2 similar disks. If the cake is very domed, ?you might need to shave a bit off the top half to level it.

To make the icing, beat together the butter, muscovado sugar, and maple syrup until light and airy. You can do this by hand, or, preferably, in a mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the cream cheese and beat until the icing is totally smooth.

Using the icing spatula, spread a layer of icing 3/8 inch / 1 cm thick ?over the bottom half of the cake. Carefully place the top half on it. Spoon the rest of the icing on top and use the icing spatula to create a wavelike or any other pattern. Dust it with confectioners’ sugar, if you like.